CAPTAIN Dave Schlitz & CHEF Ingo Martens & MATE Nathan Fourie

CAPTAIN | Dave Schlitz | Australian
Born in Melbourne, Australia Dave followed in his sister’s footsteps into the world of yachting and now, 14 years later, he hasn’t looked back! Though Dave has worked on a number of vessels he has been with KNIGHT for many years under her previous ownerships.
In school Dave grew up playing classic Australian sports such as Cricket, Australian Football and Skateboarding. He is a big fan of rock music and enjoys live concerts.
Dave enjoys being out in the open waters. Some of his favorite cruising destinations are in the Eastern Med such as Croatia and Palma, Majorca.

Fun fact: Dave was in a commercial as a child for a furniture store while singing and has appeared on TV show Deal or no Deal!


CHEF | Ingo Martens | German/Namibian
Ingo was born in Namibia, South West Africa and has been in yachting for 11 years. He speaks many languages including Afrikaans, Dutch, German, English & Flemish.
He attended culinary school in Frankfurt where he completed an internship at Arabella Sheraton (dubbed one of the Finest Hotels of the World) and has been French Culinary trained.

In his spare time, Ingo likes to dabble in photography and fly his drone named Toby whilst in interesting locations. During a weekend of downtime, you can find him enjoying a movie marathon, listening to a variety of different music genres or attending heavy metal rock concerts.


ENGINEER | Jib Mitchell | Canadian
Growing up in Florida, USA, Jib enjoys skateboarding and fishing. One of his favourite spots in the Marshall Islands where you can find Marlin and Tuna in abundance. Straight after high school, he was a welder in power plants all over the United States. His love of the ocean has brought him to exploring yachting for the last ten years as an Engineer. Jib’s father owns a coffee plantation in San Jose, Costa Rica called Cachi, which he helps out on, whenever he has an opportunity.


CHIEF STEWARDESS | Maria Finnegan | British
Maria is from Liverpool, UK and is the oldest of 4 siblings. Growing up, Maria trained in ballet and was a regional swim competitor. During high school and University, Maria worked in a restaurant, fine-tuning her skills of hospitality and service. After obtaining a degree in Art & Design with a focus in Buying and Merchandising, she took a role on Disney Cruise Line for an opportunity to be based abroad for a short term. She supervised the Merchandise department before venturing into yachting 6 years ago.

Maria has spent the first half of her career in the Mediterranean and more recently has enjoyed making the jump across the pond to cruise the United States and Bahamas. With a passion for travel, Maria is keen to venture further with a new itinerary of adventure.


2ND STEWARDESS | Gorgi Van Lienen | New Zealand
Gorgi hails from a small city in New Zealand and has been deeply involved in sports from a young age. At 17, she moved to Auckland to pursue football, and after a successful year winning nationals, she earned a football scholarship in the US. But, due to injury she had to pivot to a new path. After 4 years, she graduated with a BA of Business Admin, focusing on Entrepreneurship, with a minor in Finance. Previously, before her year in yachting, she worked in a land-based position as a personal assistant, honing her housekeeping & service skills.


STEWARDESS | Emma Oellermann | South African
Emma is from a small farm town called Kearsney in KZN, South Africa where she grew up with her 5 younger siblings before attending boarding school. She is a strong swimmer specializing in winning victrix ludorum many times. Her other interests include running, gym and travel. Emma worked as an intern teacher for three years before joining yachting. Her first boat is KNIGHT and is very excited to see what the Mexican season offers.


MATE| Nathan Fourie | South African
Nathan is originally from Rustenburg, South Africa where he previously worked on a farm and in construction. Nathan however decided to follow his passion and joined yachting industry. He likes hiking and one of his favorite places in Victoria falls in Zimbabwe. Nathan is looking forward to meeting all guests on board KNIGHT.


Deckhand |Matthew Holocombe | English
Matt was born and raised in London, UK and spent few years in Hungary as well. He studied geography and got his passion for boats from his parents, who sailed around the world. Prior to joining his crew mates on board KNIGHT, he was involved in conservation where he looked after pigs. Matt’s hobbies include coding, squash, rugby, and sports in general. He worked as security guard at Wimbledon where he met Serena Williams, Pippa and Kate Middleton and played catch with Roger Federer.


DECKHAND| Jason Timm | Australian
Jason grew up in Bundaberg after living most of his adult life in Brisbane. Before completing his apprenticeship in carpentry, he worked as a restaurant manager. He has worked constructing luxury homes in Australia, as crew on a yacht and with a boat builder in recent years. His love of travel has taken him extensively all over the world which he intends to continue in many years to come.